One Way of Doing It
by Galadriel1010
Summary: Why are there puppies in the Hub? Jack and Ianto acheive domesticity of a sort through the application of Border Collie puppies.


**Author's Note:** Written for the wonderful Ruth, when she misread my tweet of 'In the pub, happies' as 'in the Hub, puppies' and she wanted to know what the puppies were doing in the Hub. This is what the puppies were doing in the Hub.

* * *

The alarm on the cog door was not the nicest thing to be woken by, especially when Jack had fallen asleep at his desk half an hour before with a throbbing headache that had only increased since he fell asleep. If it was Ianto who'd just arrived, Jack decided, he was going to be a bitch about the headache and shut himself in his office until the rest of the team arrived - after all, it was Ianto's fault for insisting that Jack get his reports up to date before they spent the night together again and precipitating his all-nighter.

He closed his eyes and prayed for coffee, but instead a large, wet box was dumped on his freshly cleared desk. Tiny whimpering noises emerged from the box and Jack backed away from it slightly. "Ianto?"

Ianto gave him a sad, bewildered look and reached into the box. A moment later, Jack found himself face to face with two bedraggled Border Collie puppies. "Ianto, why are there puppies in the Hub?"

"Because someone left them outside the office," Ianto held them out. They were still small enough that Ianto could hold them in a hand each, but big enough that he would have struggled if they'd had more energy. "Can you..."

"Sure," bad mood forgotten, Jack took them off him and guided them into his lap. "Are there more?"

Ianto sighed and tilted Jack's chin up so that he could claim a kiss. "One, didn't make it," he picked the box up and gestured to the door. "I'll go and deal... Deal with it."

Jack nodded his agreement and pulled last night's shirt awkwardly off the back of his chair to wrap it around the puppies as a temporary measure. "There's a box with bottles and formula, blankets and a heat lamp in the cupboard by the stairs."

"I'll bring them up," Ianto confirmed.

He wasn't gone long, just long enough for Jack to move to the sofa and get more comfortable. Ianto paused in the doorway and then came and sat next to Jack. He held out one of the blankets and Jack placed the first puppy into it. Once that was safely bundled, they repeated the process with the other. He left Jack with both of them, squirming enthusiastically now, and went to make the formula up.

By the time Tosh arrived, they were practically snuggled on the sofa, Jack's puppy licking at his hand whilst Ianto's slept happily. Tosh leaned against the doorway and snapped a photo of them. "New team members, or something strange happened to Gwen and Owen?"

Ianto laughed and held his dozy puppy up. "This is Bingo, and Jack has Dido."

"I won't ask," she smiled and pushed away. "Have fun, boys."

"Dido's a girl," he called and leaned more into Jack. "Jack, we can keep them, right?"

* * *

Jack took the pen out of Ianto's hand and set it down on the table with a sharp click. Ianto glared at him through eyes red with exhaustion and reached for it, closing his fingers around Jack's wrist when he covered the pen. "Jack, I need to get this done."

"No, Ianto," he tugged his wrist from Ianto's grasp and came around the desk to pull him to his feet. "You need to get some sleep. Reports do not need to be completed the night the event happens, in the morning will do."

"Jack..."

"Here," he pushed him onto the sofa and dumped the blanket into his arms. "Don't go anywhere."

When he returned with the box in his hands, the blanket had slipped from Ianto's hands onto the floor, and Ianto had his head back against the wall, eyes closed. Jack shushed the puppies and put the box down carefully, then collected their things together as quietly as he could before he bent down and kissed Ianto awake. "Hey," he kissed him again as his eyelids fluttered. "Come on, home."

"Home? Can't we stay here?"

"No, Ianto. Real bed tonight, and real sleep. And a box full of puppies."

Ianto blinked and rocked forwards so that his cheek pressed against Jack's shoulder and he could look down into the box. "Do I get a cuddle before we go home?" Jack pulled back and Ianto's arms wrapped around his waist. "I meant from you. Come on then," he yawned to his feet and Jack bent to pick up the box, poking Dido back down so that she didn't rock it and make him drop it. "We should... Jack..."

"Yeah?" Jack held the box in front of his chest, his fingers splayed wide and protective on the edge.

"Have I actually asked you to move in with me yet?"

Jack frowned and gave him a bemused look. "Well... no, but we've sort of... I thought..."

"Oh yeah, we have. I just figured, I ought to ask you, at some point. Even if it's belated," he shrugged. "Getting dogs, it makes it feel..."

"Domestic," Jack laughed. "We'll have to train them to flush Weevils out, just to make them fit in."

Ianto laughed too and rescued Dido from the box as she tried to escape again. She snuggled against him and started chewing his tie, and Ianto followed Jack back to _their_ flat, to introduce _their_ puppies to their new home, and then fall into bed together and get the sleep that neither of them had got last night.

"Weevil dogs," he muttered down at Dido. "At least you'll never lack for walkies."

* * *

"Dido, left," Jack yelled and she shot off from his side. "Ianto, how are you doing at that end?"

"Nearly there, just sending Bingo in. Go on boy!"

Jack followed Dido in through the door and pulled into the shadows by the side. He heard the dogs barking and, eventually, Ianto's called instructions, then the Weevil emerged out of the darkness to where he was waiting to grab it.

Ianto offered a hand to help him up and grinned. "Who knew, Weevil dogs."

Jack picked the Weevil up and slung it over his shoulder. "Yeah, they're getting good at this. Heel, girl," Dido gave up on her exploration of the bins and returned to him. "Good girl."

"Back to the Hub?" Ianto asked, as he lifted the boot. Dido and Bingo leapt up without needing to be told, and Jack slung the Weevil in with them.

"Yep, home," he smiled.


End file.
